What is most problematic to me is the focus on whether or not she burned the pages, which all sources point to that she did not, and not the fact that regardless, what happened to Farkuhunda is a horrible tragedy. How in this day and age is it possible for a person to be murdered by a mob in a street? The excuses, conflicting reports, and misplaced focus on what she may have done before she was attacked, demonstrate the root of the persistent problem - women are not valued as equals, not just in Afghanistan, but in most of the world, today.
Fereshta Kazemi, an Afghan-American activist, elaborates:
“Here was this woman who was smart, and pious and very dedicated to Islam. She was exactly what even conservatives there were pushing for women to be like, and yet here she is dead.”
#JusticeForFarkhunda is trending on Twitter and this mob killing has sparked a global movement. Tonight (Thursday) there will be vigils in New York City, Toronto, and around the world.
The protests in Afganistan have seen unprecedented participation. A justice and rights advocate in Kabul, Ramin Anwari, helped arrange a rally on Tuesday:
"I saw young boys and girls coming with their parents. In the past, women marching in public was limited to extreme activists, but this time I saw families and mothers and housewives."
Anwari further explained that these protests aim to change the dangerous mentality in Afghanistan. Social media has already played an important role in starting this conversation and raising awareness.
Thousands of people attended Farkunda's funeral on Sunday. Though it is customary for only men to be pallbearers, her coffin was carried only by women.
It is deeply disheartening that focus on issues female empowerment most often comes after tremendous injustice. Farkunda should not have had to die so tragically for the world to feel something regarding the inequality of women in Afghanistan.
Farkunda will not have the bright future she could have, but if the momentum of these protests persists, hopefully this global dialogue will create a positive mob mentality, spreading the idea that women are people, women are equals, and that there is no place for violence against women ever, especially not in these modern times.
I think for a very long time the west was progressive in shedding light on women’s movements and providing women with avenues in which they could empower one another. In recent years however, I think a lot of the eastern backward culture as we like to describe have shifted and changed. This shift I think has to do a lot with the fact that more and more women are becoming educated and therefore are able to stand on their own two feet, say fuck you to the system that oppressed them, and become the faces that launch a thousand ships. The truth of the matter is, countries in the Middle East have always been a bit hesitant on allowing women to have a say in anything, especially their own rights, but to see that women in Afghanistan are making a change is promising. In a country where violence is rampant and everyone functions under an honor system, it’s a big deal that the women were able to carry Farkhunda’s coffin. In regards to people trying to justify why she was killed by arguing it may have been because she burned the Quran, I think it’s really important to understand that in countries like Afghanistan, religion is placed on such a high pedestal that to punish someone who disrespects Islam is considered the rational thing to do. I think the best movements have occurred after horrible injustices and while that may be awful, it is necessary. Sometimes it takes something dramatic to happen so that people can have an open conversation about what the issues are and how they can be overcome.
ReplyDeleteThank you for blogging about an event like this. Often people don't share stuff like this in America because it's not affecting "us" here. I think this is an issue that should be recognized worldwide and it's awesome that vigils were held even in the US.
ReplyDeleteI don't see this solely as an example of gender inequality though. I see this as a topic of religion as well. In countries with dominant religions and groups of people who feel very strongly towards that faith, issues like this occur. They murdered her under the presumption that she had burned the Quran; I feel whether she was a man or a woman doesn't change the fact that they felt enough hatred towards here for "denouncing" the religion to kill her. There are so many cases where Christians in the Middle East are forced to convert religions or be killed alone their whole family. The issue overall is unjust and extremely saddening. As humankind, we need to continue to spread awareness and encourage acceptance and equality.
Not only does this tragedy portray gender inequality, but I think it's more of an issue of religious tension. Recently I heard about an incident where a women from Afghanistan converted to Catholicism and was brutally beat up by her own family due to such conversion. Her ex-husband publicly posted a picture of her on the internet and told everyone that she was an "embarrassment" to the religion. As a result her family became aware of this at her home country and when she went to visit she was beaten up and kidnaped.
ReplyDeleteUnfortunately this was a case of religious extremists who take their religion to a another level that involves violence and zero tolerance for conversion, and this is simply horrendous. I think that in cases like these being a men and women doesn't really cause a change in the abuse they receive, groups like these target anyone who decides to convert.
It's truly upsetting to see how people can justify their violence because of a religion when no violence is justified. I believe everyone should have the ability to choose and identify with a religion without having any kind of back lash.
Thanks for spreading awareness on this kind of abuse that is becoming much more known. Unfortunately cases like these can be very hard to actually punish perpetuators of violence when it happens between family. Hopefully more individuals are able to stand up and stop groups like these from pursuing other attacks against others.